On July 18, Miss Vietnam DC (Chairwoman, Lieu Nguyen) hosted a press conference at the newly opened Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore, Maryland. Chairwoman Lieu Nguyen introduced this beauty pageant in 2007. For 8 years, they held the beauty pageant at the parking lot of the Eden Center in Falls Church, VA for the local Vietnamese-American community. with the support of Horseshoe Casino, however, Miss Vietnam DC can now hold their beauty pageant in a well-provided for venue. Nguyen emphasized the purpose of Miss Vietnam DC is to bring back the young leaders to serve the community for socio-economic development.

(Photo: Miss. Lieu Nguyen)

Lieu Nguyen works tirelessly for three different non-profit organization: Devotion to Children (for age of 6 and under), Hope for Tomorrow (free medical/dental support to children in the DMV area, build home for HIV/Cancer patients, and install Water filtration and provide micro loans for those in least developed countries) and Miss Vietnam DC to improve and upgrade Vietnamese – American lives.

Loney Nguyen, the winner of 2014 Miss Vietnam DC, shared her life story; after moving from different foster homes every week at the age of 15, she tried to cope with the desperately stressful life, but she overcame and finished her bachelor’s program in 3 years as a valedictorian. She wishes to use her Masters in Social Work to help those like her who need the support to grow up into successful individuals and strengthen the community.

Loney noted, “When I had a hard time in my teenager, I didn’t have any roll models to learn from it, and I realized I will be the one for the others. After I became celebrity as a Miss Vietnam DC 2014, I learned lessons to love and help others by putting myself outside of the comfort zone. Miss Vietnam DC is a bridge to connect Vietnamese-American women and collaborate with other ethnic groups to serve community. As a Miss Vietnam DC, as a younger Vietnamese-American, we collaborate to narrow the cultural gap and age gap between other ethnic groups and within an ethnic group as well.” She gives this message, “Never give up, Be yourself, Believe yourself!” to young people in different ethnic communities.

Horseshoe Casino Marketing Director, Tom York and Horseshoe Casino Multicultural Marketing Manager, Swee Yap are working on the 2015 Miss Vietnam DC. Tom York remarked, “We look forward to opportunity like this. I am really excited to offer this opportunity to bring up the next level to Miss Vietnam DC and be a part of this organization as a true partner.”

Miss Vietnam DC is a unique entity in the greater Washington area, and Lieu Nguyen (Chairwoman Miss Vietnam DC), Tuyet Nhi Le (Pageant Executive Director), David Dang (Marketing Director) work tirelessly every year to make this event a sucess.

At the interview, Mr. Vinh Nguyen is one of the biggest and longest supporters of Miss Vietnam DC, as he’s supported the event for the past 8 years. He explained his desire to help the community, and for Vietnames-American girls to dream big. He believes that Miss Vietnam DC is not only a beauty pageant but also a leadership program.

2015 Miss Vietnam DC will be held on October 11, 2014 at the Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore, Maryland. To participate in this fun and inspiring event, go to http://missvietnamdc.org/application/ to download the application OR visit www.MissVietnamDC.org and click on REGISTER TODAY.

The last day to register is on Thursday, August 6, 2015 and orientation is on Saturday, August 8, 2015.

Eligibility Requirements:

1. Must be at least 21 years of age or no more than 29 years of age on October 10, 2015.
2. Must be a natural-born female that has never been married or had a marriage annulled.
3. Must not be a parent, currently be pregnant, or have ever given birth to a child.
4. Must be a citizen of the United States,and have resided in the Greater Washington DC Metropolitan Area (DC/MD/VA) for at least 6 months as of October 10, 2015.
5. Must be at least 1/8th Vietnamese descendant.
6. Must be of good health and moral character.
7. Must agree that if they win or succeed to the state level title or the title of MISS VIETNAM DC, they will not participate in any other pageants during the time they hold any of these titles, unless authorized in writing by MISS VIETNAM DC.
8. Must be willing to release, unconditionally and forever, any claim against Miss Vietnam DC, Its affiliated or related companies and their respective officers, directors, advisors, partners, employees, agents and assigns, which they may have by virtue of their participation in their state pageant, or by any use of their name, likeness, voice, and/or biography in connection with their state pageant, including use in promotional and advertising material.